In the processing and packaging of semiconductor devices, wire bonding continues to be the primary method of providing electrical interconnection between two locations within a package (e.g., between a die pad of a semiconductor die and a lead of a leadframe). More specifically, using a wire bonder (also known as a wire bonding machine) wire loops are formed between respective locations to be electrically interconnected. The primary methods of forming wire loops are ball bonding and wedge bonding. In forming the bonds between (a) the ends of the wire loop and (b) the bond site (e.g., a die pad, a lead, etc.) varying types of bonding energy may be used including, for example, ultrasonic energy, thermosonic energy, thermocompressive energy, amongst others.
Due to variations amongst like wire bonding machines, it may be difficult to obtain wire bonds having substantially uniform bonding characteristics (e.g., shear strength, pull strength, etc.) using or employing the same input bonding parameters across the like wire bonding machines. For example, ultrasonic transducers (e.g., including piezoelectric crystal) tend to vary from machine to machine even though they are nominally the same. Thus, even though the same energy (e.g., electrical current) is applied to the various transducers, the output characteristics of the transducers (and the resultant various wire bonds) may vary significantly.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide improved methods of forming consistent wire bonds amongst a plurality of like wire bonding machines.